Please tell me exactly what Emerald X7 I've bought !

[Long Jon]

Hi gang.
In between my usual larking about over on the open mic section, I've been lurking around this carbon corner of the forum on and off for a while.
Gathering info, ,,, Layin' low, sayin' nuffin' ... Beginning to think that an X7 is what I "need". (hahaha)

So, very late last night I e-mailed Sean at Emerald to enquire about possible discounts for AGFers. (I'll treat his response as confidential, ask him yourself).

After I'd done that, in the very very wee hours of last night/this morning I found a used Emerald X7 OS for auction on eBay UK.

It finished at 10 am this morning, I managed to sleep in and got on eBay about 1 minute before the end of the sale. . . still no bids ....

One other last-second bidder stopped me from getting it for the starting price.

But I got it !

AFTER buying it, and after the seller had already dispatched it to me, I got around to asking him some questions about it !
What a shining example of due diligence, I think you'll all agree.

Long story nearing the end, I have found out it was originally ordered in April 2013 and delivered in August 2013.
What should the standard spec from that time be ? Have they improved significantly (other than pick-ups)since ? Will the frets be stainless steel ?

Seller doesn't know if it has an adjustable truss rod or not, will I have to wait and see ?
Or does the date, or the fact that it looks like there's a hole for one mean that there is one ? Does it even matter ?

So, I await my NGD, all exited like a kid at Christmas !

Here's the link, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Emerald-X7...X%3AIT&nma=tru Not great pics, but it appears to be in pristine condition.

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

Congrats on the new toy, LJ.

As to specs, I have a good idea, but why guess when Alistair can look up the guitar by the serial number for you, and give you the specifics, including what has been changed over the last three years.

Good luck, and use it in good health.

[Long Jon]

Originally Posted by Ted @ LA Guitar Sales

Congrats on the new toy, LJ.

As to specs, I have a good idea, but why guess when Alistair can look up the guitar by the serial number for you, and give you the specifics, including what has been changed over the last three years.

Good luck, and use it in good health.

Thanks Ted. (I guess that CEO 7 is gonna have to wait .....)

Never even seen a CF geetar in the flesh yet. Hopefully, I got a good enough deal on it to release it back into the bay with no great loss if we don't bond.

[Acousticado]

LJ, the X7 will have stainless steel frets, is one-piece construction, but I'm not sure if Emerald had yet switched to the solid neck with truss rod, or had the hollow neck without. Hopefully, Sean from Emerald who frequents this forum will see your thread and chime-in, but in case not, as Ted suggested, you can email Emerald about it. They have great customer service, so you'll get the accurate answer.

[Long Jon]

Originally Posted by Acousticado

LJ, the X7 will have stainless steel frets, is one-piece construction, but I'm not sure if Emerald had yet switched to the solid neck with truss rod, or had the hollow neck without. Hopefully, Sean from Emerald who frequents this forum will see your thread and chime-in, but in case not, as Ted suggested, you can email Emerald about it. They have great customer service, so you'll get the accurate answer.

Hi Tom. I'll see it when it gets here. I don't know the serial number. I won't pester Sean about it, unless he chimes in here.

I've already exchanged a couple of mails with him and he was very helpful. . . Then I bought a second-hand one ! haha

It obviously has a hole for a rod, but I can't see if there is one in there. (Can y'all see the eBay pics alright ?)

[Acousticado]

Originally Posted by Long Jon

Hi Tom. I'll see it when it gets here. I don't know the serial number. I won't pester Sean about it, unless he chimes in here.

I've already exchanged a couple of mails with him and he was very helpful. . . Then I bought a second-hand one ! haha

It obviously has a hole for a rod, but I can't see if there is one in there. (Can y'all see the eBay pics alright ?)

The pics snow fine. Iirc, even when Emerald's had the hollow neck without truss rod, the typical indentation on the headstock above the nut was there. So, unless you can see an up-close down view pic, it's hard to tell. I think the solid neck/truss rods was the only significant change, so the guitar should otherwise be the same in look and design as new ones. I don't own nor have ever held an X7, and not that a new one will be heavy by any means, but the older hollow neck/no TR ones will obviously be lighter. Unlike the later CA Cargos which had neck angle issues that couldn't be corrected by saddle adjustment, I have never heard about any playability issues with older X7s.

[Emerald Guitars]

Jon,

I checked out the listing and from what I can tell it's a green X7 Opus with Gotoh 381 tuners and a B-Band A3T pickup and preamp. The only difference to current models will be that it has a solid black finish on the back and sides and the neck might be slightly thicker. Other than that, the specs are pretty much the same as the models we build now.

The only other difference I can think of is that we have since decided to move away from a side-mounted preamp which involved cutting a hole in the side of the X7 in favour of using the discreet sound hole-mounted controls as featured on the LR Baggs Element and Anthem.

This approach looks more elegant, but most importantly it future-proofs the instrument and leaves the instrument fully intact so future electronic upgrades can happen with ease. The battery is now also installed inside the instrument which is made easy to access with our offset sound holes.

If you have any further questions when you get the guitar, give me a shout via email any time.

Kind Regards,

Sean

[Long Jon]

Thanks Sean.
Yeah the barn door electronics would've been a deal-breaker for me on a wooden geetar, but I figure this is so unconventional looking anyway I'd turn a blind eye.

So, still gonna have to wait 'til I've got it it before I find out if there's a truss rod in there ?! You tease .


EDIT: You could maybe offer some sort of funky blank inserts to fill any unwanted trapdoors in older models..
maybe even install a little LED screen to scroll up your cheat sheet while playing ?

Long Jon;

Some people have removed the barn door and turned the hole into a sound port.

[Emerald Guitars]

Originally Posted by Long Jon

Thanks Sean.
Yeah the barn door electronics would've been a deal-breaker for me on a wooden geetar, but I figure this is so unconventional looking anyway I'd turn a blind eye.

So, still gonna have to wait 'til I've got it it before I find out if there's a truss rod in there ?! You tease .


EDIT: You could maybe offer some sort of funky blank inserts to fill any unwanted trapdoors in older models..
maybe even install a little LED screen to scroll up your cheat sheet while playing ?

Sorry Jon

I didn't mean to tease - Yes, it should have a truss rod, too!

I will mention your suggestion to Alistair and the team. It wouldn't be the first time we used LEDs ;-)

Best Wishes

Sean

[Long Jon]

Thanks again Sean. Everything you've told me sounds like pretty good news !
I don't mind the neck possibly being a bit fatter, my current main squeeze is a Martin D with 1.3/4" nut and a modified V neck and it suits me fine.
Can't wait to try her out ! ETA is next Wednesday, but IME things arrive much more quickly than that.

LJ;

and sometimes things take forever. You could be in for a long wait, anxiously sitting on your porch, waiting for your ship to come in. I feel your pain--where is that darned thing? I'm just messing with you. You know what they say, "if wishes were fishes we know what we'd have for dinner." But don't let me rain on this cool event. I hope you enjoy your instrument, Emerald makes a fine guitar.

[Long Jon]

Haha! I appreciate your kind thoughts Evan.

So, here I am, already up, washed and dressed, with bacon and tomatoes under the grill, at 8 in the A.M. !!
That's an unprecidented achievement for me, but van-men are up even earlier, they usually start delivering guitars anytime now !

I'm probably a wee bit optimistic in the ETA, but I would imagine a lightweight guitar like the X7 will travel much faster than a conventional one.

[Long Jon]

IT'S HERE !!

Unusually, the seller went with a carrier who does NOT provide any tracking information.

My next door neighbour just brought it around, apparently IT ARRIVED TWO DAYS AGO !

He wondered why I had not been round to collect it yet !
Obviously, I'd have been round like a bat o.o.h. but the bloody van driver failed to put a card thru' my letterbox to let me know.

So, that is really fantastically fast carriage, evidently achieved at the expense of providing any info !

So far I can report that the guitar is absolutely immaculate, honestly looks brand new and un-played. The green high gloss top is very dark, blends nicely into the black b&s.

The "trapdoor" pre amp is really tiny when you see it in person, hardly larger than the face of a Snark tuner.

Oh yeah, it HAS got an adjustable truss rod and the key !

I think I'm going to really like it. Will try and get around to taking some pics and doing an official NGD in due course.

[121]

Glad to hear you got it, can't wait for some pictures.
I'm sure you're going to love your X7, I really enjoy mine, they are great guitars.